Sanchez Cantina

We have been to Sanchez’s Cantina twice now and unfortunately to say we have been disappointed both times. The first time we went with neighbors for the opening. The waitstaff was unorganized, clumsy and didn’t know the menu. understanding our first visit was the grand opening we thought we give them another try. However, last night there was only one waitstaff working. The restaurant was busy and people got up and walked out because they couldn’t get service in tables were dirty. This is managements responsibility and fault not the waitstaff people The waitstaff person was absolutely wonderful and quite a kick, the food however! The Margarita was served in a hot yes hot glass. The taco salad had beans at the bottom of the salad with no flavor and looked as if they had been dumped, liquid and all out of a can. They were so drenched in liquid it soaked through the tortilla shell. The chicken had very little flavor and the tortilla shell was bitter. We really wanted the Cantina to survive as there are very few restaurants in our neighborhood. I’m sorry to say we will not be back.

Great service, great food! This place does it right. Go for the tacos and try one of each. You will not be disappointed. The bartender and server were great! Very attentive and quick with everything. Thanks!

Normally I enjoy coming here and encouraged people to come try it but the past couple times service has been a let down. Food comes out pretty slowly even when there’s just a few customers but that still didn’t steer me away, until today. Today is Cinco De Mayo and I get they are busy, and they all seem to be keeping up well except for our waitress. I ordered the garlic shrimp, which I’ve had before, and she brought me the mushroom shrimp instead. I don’t eat mushrooms. I politely told her she put in the wrong order but she just assured me that that’s how the garlic shrimp comes, and offered no solution except for me to kinda deal with it. So when my bill came I asked to talk to the manager and when he got to the table the first thing I asked was, «does the garlic shrimp come with mushrooms?» And he immediately said no and he would take care of it. He took $ 5 off my bill and then said, «well you know that’s actually how it comes. I have a new chef though so maybe you had it when the new chef made it wrong.» No. I had it when you first opened and I’ve had it since with no mushrooms. You should’ve taken more off my bill or maybe you should inform your staff of how to correctly make food or recognize which dishes are correct, or if that’s how it comes now maybe you should make it known on your menu because a lot of fucking people hate mushrooms. So much for supporting a local family. You lost a loyal customer, future customers, and really pissed me off on a day I was supposed to be enjoying with my daughter.

My wife and I went to Sanchez Cantina last night and were impressed. I had a chicken burrito with salsa verde, and she had the quesadilla plate. The chicken had that intense grilled taste that only real Mexican kitchens seem able to produce, and the pinto beans were cooked just right, not too firm and not too soft. The salsas are made fresh. (I liked the red sauce that came with the tortilla chips even more than the green.) The portions were very large. When the waitress brought our entrees, she saw that I’d nearly polished off the chips and salsa and brought us more of both (no charge for either). She also packed up the remainder of the second basket in our to-​go bag at the end of the meal, with cups for the salsa. And then she made another trip for another to-​go cup when she saw my wife scooping beans into the styrofoam box with her other leftovers. Sweet and thoughtful.
The house margarita was on the sour side of tart – obviously made from fresh limes, It wouldn’t please someone accustomed to a neon-​colored sugary mix. The meat choices for the tacos, burritos, and plates include buche, lengua, and tripa as well as the more common carne asada, carnitas, and pollo. There were at least 8 Mexican beers available, including my sentimental favorite, Victoria, which is rarely seen.
The place is clean as a whistle, but the atmosphere is nothing special: a few tables in a rather plain space decorated with posters. There’s a small bar with a TV tuned to sports with the sound off. (After 9:00 pm on Friday through Sunday night, the place turns into a 21+ bar.)
To sum up, I really liked the place. It reminds me a lot of the little family-​run taquerias that dot semi-​touristed Mexican towns like Bucerías and Tulum Pueblo. Completely unpretentious, unapologetically modest, and very satisfying.

Good food, plentiful servings with smaller options available. You can order single tacos, which is nice, especially if you aren’t hungry enough for a full-​sized entre. Service was fabulous! Attention by servers was just right. Great prices make this place affordable for us to come more often. We appreciate having this choice so close to home, adding variety to the local offerings.

Delicious! I had the the pollo asado with flour tortillas. The tortillas were amazing! Jessica, the owner, was extremely attentive and friendly. It was very sweet to see a truly family-​run restaurant. The salsa had the perfect amount of spice for me — I enjoy some heat to my salsa! I’ll definately be back. Can’t wait to try some other items in the menu.

Came here after hearing positive reviews. We were generally let down by the experience.
Pros:
–Free chips & salsa
–Our food was good. Had both the chicken and the carne asada enchiladas with rice & beans, which were tasty. Carnitas tacos also were good.
Cons:
–Ambiance. UGH! Walking in it felt like a funeral. Dimly lit, no music, and there was just one other table of people so it was virtually silent inside. They had 3 tvs showing soccer games, but those were muted too. And there were at least 3 tables where it was clear that people HAD been, as they still had dirty dishes all over them. Felt way more like a sports bar — with silent sports — than a Mexican restaurant.
–Slooooooow service. Our waiter was friendly, but it took a loooooooooong time for everything.
–No taco plate. Weird! All other entrees came with plate options (rice & beans) except the tacos.
Meh. We’ll look elsewhere next time we’re in the mood for Mexican.

Not very exciting for us, many other places to choose from. The food we ordered was nothing special. Waitstaff seemed confused as the evening crowd started arriving, messed up our dinner bill 3 times, which took forever for them to get it right. PLUS we wanted more chips and salsa, waitress said chips are free but salsa costs a dollar, sorry to say we won’t be returning.

We used to have to drive all the way to Hillsboro for great Mexican food but not anymore. Every time I’ve been to Sanchez Cantina I’ve been so happy with everything from the food to the drinks and always with the service. Tonight I went in for dinner with a friend of mine who had never been there before. First impressions, right? Well tonight we walked into a mad dinner rush. We were lucky to get a table and everyone seemed to be scrambling to get out of the weeds. Even with that they were incredible: professional, attentive, and sincerely apologetic about our wait. I used to be a server so I know what those nights are like and it’s always best to be understanding when that happens. When you show kindness you get it back in return. It’s simple. I can’t wait to go there again and even when it’s super busy, I’ll wait my turn because it will be worth it!

Not sure if they have always had happy hour but $ 4 happy hour drinks all day Monday and Tuesday, and 3 – 6 W-​Sunday– I recommend the mami’s milk– it’s delicious! Seriously love this place, we’ve been here twice this week!

A nice hole in the wall place. The staff is very nice and it is always clean. Their food is good and reasonably priced.
A bit of a sports bar as they have several screens showing sports at all times.
My favorite place to get a torts and a margarita.

Post-​script: visited two times since my initial review. Each time the space was quite empty and the food was not as pleasing as the initial encounter. For some reason it wasn’t as flavorful the second and third times. The space needs reorganizing as the layout of the tables emphasized how empty the space feels. Also it was slightly strange to have a server with a baby strapped to her. Although that’s not a deal breaker, I had high hopes for memorable flavor which haven’t been sustained.

Great little place, quiet and small. The waiter was nothing short of awesome! And the food was more than flavorful. It’s not your average bland Mexican food, they give you three lovely salsas to accompany your meal. It’s worth giving a try!

Great new addition to the neighborhood! Definitely the best Mexican in the area, and very fair prices!
Service was fantastic– very friendly, but gave you room to eat your meal.
Food was great too– enjoyed the chicken mole tamale («cinco de sanchez» = tamale specials on the 5^th of every month) and pork carnitas (big, tender pieces of pork, perfectly flavored).
Across several dishes appreciated that the meat was lean, not fatty– pork, chicken, carne asada. All great.
$ 5 house margarita is not to be missed… It’s not super-​sweet like so many. (Homemade base; not that sweet pre made stuff)
Handmade tortillas for 50 cents extra are well worth it.

I’ve lived in this area for a while and remember that another Mexican restaurant use to be here. I am soooooo happy that Sanchez Cantina is here now. We’ve been in a few times with various other people and everyone has enjoyed their meal (including my grandmother who was a missionary in Sonora for 16 years).
Excellent food. Tonight I had the Pollo Asado which is often dry and over cooked at other places. Here it was moist, tender, and really well seasoned. Plus a lot of it. No skimpy portions here.
We’ll continue coming back.

While the location is still very new, and it was a holiday weekend, it appeared to be slow but it was very clean, the staff was very friendly. The food was delicious! The homemade salsa was well executed and refreshing! The burritos are huge and flavorful. We will definitely be coming back again!

After looking at the couple of poor reviews from other patrons, I thought maybe they were being a little nit picky. But the bottom line for me is, Is the food good? And it wasn’t. I got the asada torta. The meat was so tough I couldn’t bite it off. I cut it off and it was like chewing bark. I told the waiter and he said, «sorry about that, I’ll let them know». Not, would you like something else?
So I ate about 4 bites and decided to just take it home to the dogs. When he brought the bill he said I’m going to take a percentage off that for you. Great, not happy that I couldn’t eat dinner but at least you’re making it right. Well by percentage he meant 70 cents.
I gave 2 stars instead of 1 because the people I went with got the carnitas enchiladas and liked their food. And at the beginning of the meal the owners came out and were really nice.
So I will try again and update my review if I have a better experience but as of now based on the food and the customer service I would say it’s not worth it. And nice doesn’t make up for bad food.

As a native Arizonan, I’ve been sadly disappointed in Portland’s Mexican food selection. Thankfully, Sanchez Cantina has alleviated some of my longing for good Mexican food, particularly in SW, which is sorely lacking in good food overall. I’m not sure why one of the reviewers knocked them for only having four tables of people, they just opened and this is a family-​run business. When my friend and I walked in at 5pm on a Tuesday, we were the only table. By the time we left at 7pm, the place was completely full. Obviously, it’ll take some time for them to get established. I for one will be one of those repeat customers and don’t judge a restaurant based on how popular it is or by how full the tables are, I judge it on its food, its service, and its ambiance. So, on to what matters…
My friend and I started with the house-​made horchata, michelada, and ensalada nopales (cactus salad). The horchata is indeed, house-​made, with the nutty rice milk delicately balanced with a light sweetness and cinnamon, it was a little watery, but I’ll take that any day over that «house-​made» powdered mix/​corn syrup infused crap that other places serve. The michelada was amazing, the bright tomato-​lime flavors bursting with umami from the Worcestershire sauce and topped generously with house-​made spices. The ensalada nopales was good, not the best, but the only Mexican restaurant in Portland I’ve been to so far that even offered it.
For our entrée, we shared a carnitas torta and a lengua burrito. The torta is by far the best torta I’ve ever had. The carnitas could have been caramelized a bit more, but it was tender and seasoned well. Topped with creamy house-​made refried beans, lettuce, queso fresco, pickled jalapeños, ripe avocado slices and in between a soft, yet sturdy telera roll, this torta was HUGE and definitely well-​worth the $ 7 price tag. If I wasn’t so famished I could have easily saved the other half for lunch the next day. The lengua in the burrito was tender and not greasy or fatty like lengua sometimes is. The burrito came with an option of including refried, black, or pinto beans — we chose black — Spanish rice, and a side of guacamole, sour cream, lettuce, and pico de gallo. The Spanish rice was delicious — light and fluffy and seasoned to perfection. I typically don’t like rice in my burritos because it’s often used as filler, but this rice is seasoned so well that it actually added a nice textural and flavorful component.
The house made red salsa in the ketchup bottle is really good: you can taste the charred chile peppers and it has a spicy and bright, citrusy quality that balances out the char. The verde avocado salsa is good, though it could use some more tomatillo or cilantro to brighten it up. I still slathered my half of the torta and burrito with it though. It’s strange to me people (another reviewer) would judge a place because they have condiments in *gasp* CONDIMENT BOTTLES. My friend also ended up getting the ground beef taco special with the house-​made tortillas for $ 1.50 each, the tortillas were really well-​made and the ground beef was seasoned nicely. The tacos dorados (hard-​shell) were just store bought shells, but those are gringo tacos and I question why anyone would order hard-​shell tacos anyways.
Lastly, the service was decent, the ambiance is nice and the place is sparkling clean. The owners came by a couple times to ask about our meal and explain things like the salsas and were really friendly. The server is obviously learning the ropes still and was a little slow, but I’m sure she’ll learn in good time.
Needless to say, I’m glad this place opened and I hope the community supports them because it is by far the best chance this area has for Mexican food, well for food period. I, for one, will be back for more.

While I really want Sanchez to succeed, I’m doubtful. Have been twice, and oddly both times they didn’t have items listed on the menu. The last time we were the only ones in there, strange for a Sunday night. I would agree with other diners that food is mediocre, salsa bland. Crunched down on a chicken bone in my enchilada, come on guys!
We were excited about a new place in our neighborhood, but sadly won’t be back.

Went here on cinco de mayo. Love that there is a new restaurant in the ‘hood. The food was very bland though. Salsa was terrible. Just not good. So bland. Please change up the salsa recipe. Had the quesadilla. It was ok. Also had a taco… Very good. Home made tortillas are awesome. If you come here order the tacos and be sure to get home made tortillas. Good price and very good tacos. I want this place to succeed very much but the food needs help. Owners are nice. I hope they change some things up or they will be in trouble. Will give them another try soon.